


Dream Makers

by Astxlphe



Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Inspired by The Night Circus, Multi, Night Circus AU, Polyamory, but the characters don't so they're happy, for now, mentions of plot, without the cheating, yes i know how the book ends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-14
Updated: 2018-07-14
Packaged: 2019-06-10 12:16:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15291339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Astxlphe/pseuds/Astxlphe
Summary: Lavi isn't sure why anyone thought it was a good idea to put Allen and Road into a game that doesn't seem to have rules. All he can do about it is staying on the sideline and, sometimes, make hot chocolate, which seems to be fine for them.Also the three of them are in love, so that's something.





	Dream Makers

**Author's Note:**

> So? It's been in the work for a while and was suppose to be for a DGM poly event but I'm really slow so I didn't finish it on time. Anyway, it's mostly fluff, and the plot is just mentioned, so it's more of a Night Circus setting than a full AU.
> 
> It's kinda short too. Sorry ^^' Also I never really wrote for a ship before. So yeah. Uhm. I hope you guys like it?
> 
> (Also big thanks to my friend Maddie from tumblr who gave me advice and opinions!)

 

Road leaves Lavi’s tent and waves at him as she goes. The place still smells like hot chocolate, and Lavi puts their cups away. Then, he checks his pocket watch.

He still has thirty minutes before the end of his break.

He makes sure his tarot cards are neatly put away, closes shop and steps outside. The crowd is thinning, but it’s nothing unusual. It’ll be dawn soon, and the visitor are starting to go home.

Nobody pays him any mind when stops at the popcorn stand. Only Jeryy the seller recognizes him, and flashes him a smile. “You’re in luck,” he tells Lavi with a wink. “I saw Allen ten minutes ago.” He gestures at the stand. “I had to restock everything.”

“Really?” Allen isn’t at the circus very often. “Do you know where he went?”

“He was talking about checking out the Dreamscape,” Jeryy says. “You know, the new tent?”

Lavi can’t help but chuckle. Of course Allen went straight to the Dreamscape. It’s Road newest masterpiece, and he often visits just to see them.

He thanks Jeryy and walks to the Dreamscape, popping a piece of popcorn in his mouth. He smiles: they’re caramelized.

The Dreamscape looks like any other tent, tall and stripped in black and white, but the interior is larger than the outside. A few tricks make it look like it’s because of cleverly installed mirrors, but Lavi — and anyone who knows about the magic, if you could call it that — knows the truth 

It’s simply bigger on the inside.

The entrance disappears after Lavi walks in, and the lights dim. Large transparent boxes filled with stories float around, glowing, and some of them have dolls that dance by themselves. Your regular onlooker would swear they can see the reflection of strings in the light. There are none.

When Lavi finally sees him, Allen is looking intently at one of the stories playing out in a box, eyes wide in wonder.

“Fancy seeing you here, Snow White,” Lavi calls cheerfully when the story finishes.

Allen jumps and hisses: “Don’t scare me like that!”

Lavi throws his free arm around his shoulders. “Well if you had been paying attention, shorty—“

“I’m not— Is that popcorn?”

“Yes it is, but you aren’t getting any. Jeryy says you already had your fill.”

Allen narrows his eyes at the popcorn, but doesn’t insist. “Shouldn’t you be working?” he asks.

“Nah, I still have thirty minutes before the end of my break! Jeryy told me you were here. Speaking of which, you could’ve told me you were visiting.”

“I wanted to surprise you after the circus was closed.” Then, he smiles he gets on the tip of his toe to kiss Lavi on the lips. “I missed you,” he says softly. “And I got you something!”  He slaps his hands together and twists them.

A brightly coloured scarf appears out of nowhere and wraps itself around Lavi’s neck. It’s thick and soft, and would work wonders to warm him up during winter nights. Lavi loves it already.

“Thank you,” Lavi says. “Still no popcorn for you, though.”

Allen rolls his eyes. “I don’t bring you gifts just so I can steal your food, you know? It’s because I love you.”

The snarky response dies before it’s even born. Lavi stammers, his face catches fire and Allen laughs.

“So.” Lavi goes on, trying not to stutter. “What do you think of Road’s newest work?”

“It’s amazing, I can’t tell how she does this.” Allen answers. He knocks on the glowing cube he was looking in earlier, and the small figures inside start moving again. “It’s like she’s making dreams.”

 _She’s making them for you_ , Lavi thinks.

The game has been going on for years now. Allen and Road’s respective teachers have set them up to compete against each others since they were children, and as soon as they reached adulthood the game started. But, somewhere along the way they stopped playing against each others and started playing  _for_ each others.

He checks the time again. “Hey,” he says. “If we hurry we can make it to Road’s show before starts. Want to go?”

It attracts Allen’s attention. He frowns. “Are you sure?” he asks. “You said you had only thirty minutes, I can catch the next one—“

“It’s not like anybody checks if I’m back on time. Besides, I love her shows too, they’re fantastic.” He grins, and extends his arms. “Come on,” he ads. “Let’s get our mind blown together.”

Allen nods and hooks his arm into Lavi’s. “I can’t wait.”

*

Road often has hot chocolate with Lavi, and today is no exception.

It takes a wave of her hand to have the milk hot and the cocoa powder stirring by itself in the cup, and they sit down. She doesn’t ask for a reading, she never does and Lavi never peaks when she’s away. He isn’t sure why. Maybe he is afraid, too.

When Road comes, they just sit close to each other and talk quietly. Sometimes, right before dawn, they go outside in the field and watch the sunrise.

Dawn is still a few hours away, so they sit at the table with blankets over their laps.

“Have you seen the Maze yet?” Lavi asks her. “It opened two days ago.”

She nods. “I did. It’s incredible; I love it. It’s Allen’s handiwork, isn’t it?”

The Maze is a pure white labyrinth. Once you are inside, you can’t leave by the way you came in, and you have to find another exit by yourself. No matter how long you spend in the maze, you will always come out, at most, thirty minutes after you came in. It’s Lavi’s favorite place to get lost in. Neither Road nor Lavi know how Allen managed to slow the passing of time inside, though. When asked, Allen would just smile and say that a magician never reveals his secrets.

Lavi suspects it’s similar to the way he makes sure circus members don’t age.

“It is.”

“He is quite the opponent.” She sighs. Then she frowns, staring intently at her drink. “I had a lot of fun outdoing him—“

“And doing a good job of it, I must say,” Lavi says with a grin. “As much as I love him, I believe you are better than he is.”

“Do you tell him that when you see him? Or do you spare his feelings by telling him how much better _he_ is?”

“That’s for me to know.”

She laughs. It’s a pretty laugh that crinkles her eyes and shakes her shoulders. Lavi quite likes the sound of it. “As I was saying,” she starts again, “I was enjoying thoroughly _flattening_ him at the game at the beginning, but it’s been more than ten years now since it started. This is getting annoying, I wish we could  declare a victor and end it now.”

“Do you even know how the winner is determined?”

She huffs. “Of course not. Grandfather is extremely vague when it comes to the rules.” She crosses her legs and takes a sip of her drink. She looks up at him, eyes glinting and smiles slyly. “It doesn’t change anything, of course. He willlose.”

Seeing her so determined makes him smile in turn. He doesn’t know how she can be so sure of herself when none of them knows how to win or what happens to the loser, but determination is a good look on her. She nods again, more forcefully this time.

“I’m glad to see you’re not going soft on him,” Lavi muses. “He would be _so_ insulted if you did.”

“I love him, but that’s no reason to let him win,” she retorts. Her smile becomes sickly sweet. “I’m happy you aren’t taking sides in this. It would be  _so unfair_ if Allen or I had to deal with two opponents.”

“Of course I’m not taking sides. I help the both of you when you want it, but besides that, I’m completely neutral.” He pauses, and his face drops a little. “I don’t want to have to choose between the two of you.”

The clock at the entrance of the circus strikes three, and Road drinks her chocolate in one go and puts her still hot cup down. “You won't have too," she promises. "But I have to go, it’s time for my show.” She stands and stretches. As she does so, her clothes turn into a white puffy dress decorated with black ribbons. She leans over the table and kisses Lavi on the corner of his lips. “See you around, bunny.”

Lavi’s face flushes at the nickname, but before he even thinks of protesting she’s already gone 

*

 Road’s show is amazing as always. She moves around and, with snaps of her fingers, effortlessly crafts illusions, and makes head turns and people question reality.

When her eyes catch Allen’s, Lavi sees her competitive streak rears its head and she doubles her efforts. She wants to give him an eyeful, to make him see how outmatched he is.

No matter how much he will try to deny it later, Allen already knows, and he can’t take his eyes off her. Neither of them can as she plays with her public and with the both of them until, after one final illusion, she disappears from the stage.

Lavi’s hand slips into Allen’s. He sends Lavi a smile. “I love her,” he whispers, and Lavi squeezes his hand tightly. 

“So do I.”

 *

Road loves being on stage. She likes how, even with every eyes on her, she can play with their senses without them knowing _how_.

There are  _ohhs_ and  _aaaahs_ as she spreads her arms and the dark ceiling of the tent lights up with stars and moving constellations. She fills their minds with wonders and once she is done, once the sun rises and they go home, they are never quite sure what is a dream and what is not.

Those people come back every night. Then, the circus leaves town and they are left with nothing but dreams and memories — until next time, maybe.

 _Dream crafter_ , her Grandfather calls her.

A familiar head of white hair stands out in the colorful crowd, at the back, and she smiles to herself. She didn’t know Allen would be here, but it doesn’t really matter. She spots Lavi too, of course, sitting next to him. He has a new scarf. She undoes one of her dress’ shorter white ribbons and loops it her finger. Then, she tugs at it and the ribbon unrolls, becoming longer and longer, the white darkening to grey then to black at the end.

Let them see how good she can be. 

She spins around to take a look at her public, and grins widely. Then, she runs her hand through her short hair and turns her small, hidden hair clip into a raven. 

Her audience applauds when she bows and disappears from the stage. She takes a seat right next to Lavi, and they stare like the world revolves her.

_Good._

She changes the colors of her dress so she can blend in with the crowd and, when the raven comes back to her, she turns it into a top hat that she puts on Allen’s head. It slides down on his face a bit, but he pushes it back.

 “So boys,” she says. “See anything you like?”

* 

She drags them backstage, and Allen holds Lavi’s hand as he follows her. His fingers carefully touch the brim of his new hat, as if it is about to turn back into a bird or a hair clip.

“You were good tonight,” he tells her.

“I know,” she answers. “I’m glad you liked it. I’ve seen your Maze, by the way, not bad.”

“She is holding back,” Lavi cuts in, grinning. “You should hear her when she comes to visit me, she doesn’t say it, but she’s impressed—”

Road glares at him, and he trails off, but Allen straightens up a bit. “I was impressed by your Dreamscape too,” he ads. Lavi rolls his eye, and exudes so much exasperation at this statement that she can actually feel it.

“I still have one show tonight,” she says, and sends an amused glance at Lavi. “Your break ended half an hour ago, you know that right?”

“I don’t actually have regular hours like you, and nobody will be looking for me.” He shrugs. “Visitors don’t seek me out. Most are afraid of what I might tell them.” He looks at them, one after the other, and smiles wryly. “So are the both of you.”

Allen shifts on his feet, embarrassed. “I’m not,” he protests half-heartedly. This lie is particularly transparent and Road wonders if it’s because tarot is the one card game he can’t cheat at.

“I already know what my cards will show anyway,” she declares. “They’ll tell me that I will beat you and then—“ She throws her arms around Lavi’s neck in an overdramatic movement and narrows her eyes at him. “Lavi will see I’m better than you and I’ll have him a—ll for myself.”

Allen’s smile thins, and his next words are so polite it’s almost insulting. “You are mistaken,” he says. “I’ve never lost a single game in my life, and I don’t intend to start now.”

“Nobody ever does.”

“I can’t lose unless I want too.”

“Are you telling me you’re going to cheat?”

“Who says anything about cheating?”

“Your track record,” Lavi quips.

The three of them played cards games together many times before, and while they could never find proof of Allen’s cheating, both her and Lavi know for sure that the games are rigged.

He pouts, crossing his arms. “Really, Lavi? You’re supposed to be on my side.”

“I’m on no one’s side!” he protests. Then he rubs the back of his head with a sheepish smile. “But she is scarier than you.”

“No, she isn’t. She’s _cute_.”

“It doesn’t mean she can’t be scary.”

“ _Thank you_ ,” Road approves with a decisive nod. Then, she sends Allen a playful glare. “See, _he_ appreciates me. I’m keeping him.”

“Excuse me—“

“Look children,” Lavi cuts in, detaching Road from his neck. “You’re both cute and scary powerful magic users, and I love you both the same. Happy?”

Allen and Road exchange a glance, and she grins. “Absolutely.”

 


End file.
